Portland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids MLS love ’em & hate ’em

Timbers 0 – 3 Rapids

The Portland Timbers came into their match with the Colorado Rapids full of momentum. They had just rattled off two straight victories and even had hopes of still making one of the most miraculous pushes into the MLS playoffs in history.

Before the start of the game, the Timbers still had eight crucial contests left where they could have put together a big streak of excellent play to vault them to their first ever playoff run.

Unfortunately for Portland, the Rapids appeared to be more ready for the game than they could have ever been.

Costly errors coupled with the fact that Portland could never conjure any great opportunities in the final third of the field ultimately resulted in a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Colorado, a drubbing that all but sealed the Timbers’ fate this season as they begin to embark on the hardest part of their 2012 MLS schedule.

And so, without further ado, here are your love ’em and hate ’em from the matchup between the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.

The Timbers fell to the Rapids 3-0 for the second time on the road this season. Photo: Oregonlive.com

Love ’em

Better than the last trip (kind of)

In two trips to Colorado this year, the Timbers have fallen by a score of 3-0 twice.

As bad as that result normally is, last nights result was much less demoralizing for the Timbers than was their first game at the Rapids this year.

The difference? Portland could actually showed up to play.

Unlike the last time the two teams met, Portland had good individual efforts this time around that gave them some opportunities to stay in the game.

So, despite this score, not everything was as bad as it could have been.

Hate ’em

Cellar Dwellers

The loss to the Rapids placed the Timbers in a spot that they have become all too familiar with this season: the cellar of the MLS Western Conference.

Switching spots with Colorado, the Timbers now have 27 points in the Western Conference, placing them one behind lowly Chivas USA.

Portland also continued its dreadful season on the road as they now have a road goal differential of -22 which makes them worst in the MLS in that category.

Toughest portion of schedule lies ahead

If the Timbers had suffered this loss but had a manageable schedule, they could still miraculously play their way into the MLS playoffs.

Unfortunately, that will not be the case as Portland will be embarking upon a schedule that should be considered to be one of the most feared in all of MLS this year.

Portland’s next three contests are against the Seattle Sounders, San Jose Earthquakes, and Real Salt Lake, with each of those three teams occupying one of the top three spots in the MLS Western Conference.

After those three, the Timbers face a middle-of-the-road D.C. United team then take on Seattle, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and San Jose to close out the season.

If you did not want to play that schedule, I would not blame you whatsoever.

Offensive chances were dismal

As would be assumed by a 3-0 scoreline, the offensive chances that the Timbers were able to create were virtually nonexistent.

While they did manufacture a few good drives, they were few and far away from what needed to happen to secure at least a point on the road.

Things once again looked out of place and the Timbers did not look like a cohesive unit.